Don - White Rock: I'm saving this one for tomorrow but here are a few teasers - over 20 degrees of heel is counter productive. The boat should perform best at about 15 degrees. There is no need to have to reef a 35' boat in the wind range of 15 to 20. Over 20 knots I'd start really looking at it but it depends on the crew etc. I raced a Catalina30 in 45 knots at Santa Cruz without a reef. We were fighting for a first and the guys behind us were not reefed. It may not of been the smartest thing to do but again it depends on the experience of the crew as to what you can get safely away with. One boat was dismasted and 2 lost their mains but none of these boats were in the top 5 - again it goes to experience. There were 19 boats in the race so 3 problems wasn't bad. The best result would be zero problems. One thing about Santa Cruz sailors is these guys really know how to sail in high winds. Tomorrow I'll discuss each aspect of what your doing - most of which is correct but in a couple of adjustments your working against yourself - one adjustment is cancelling the effect of the other. I'm pretty sure I can eliminate your weather helm and heel problem.
